SUSTAINABILITY BRIDGET WILLIAMS
Going green through the red light In this time of flux, it is opportune for businesses to focus on wellbeing and sustainability. Bridget Williams from Bead & Proceed unpacks how weaving sustainability through your business during the pandemic is essential for solving the challenges we face.
It’s all connected
They say hindsight is a beautiful thing, but the ugly truth is we knew a pandemic of this nature was coming for us. As stated by the United Nations Development Programme, “scientists have warned for years that unrestricted deforestation, the illegal wildlife trade, and diseases that cross from animals to humans would unleash an uncontrollable pandemic”, which is why investing in green economies is essential to restoring the balance between people and planet and helping communities recover. These issues echo the three impact areas of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): social, economic and environmental. In fact, the connection
14
HUMAN RESOURCES
AUTUMN 2022
between the SDGs and the COVID-19 pandemic response has been likened to a double helix because tackling the goals and the virus is so intertwined, and both require a cohesive approach. Since COVID-19 was introduced, the SDGs have faced dramatic setbacks towards the targets: • SDG 3 – Good Health and Wellbeing: the pandemic threatens health across the globe, and there are adverse knock-on effects due to vaccination breaks and further mental health issues due to impact on livelihoods • SDG 2 – Zero Hunger: the virus has affected the production, distribution and availability of food pushing further people into distress • SDG 1 – No Poverty: poverty has increased for the first time in decades, with Oxfam estimating the crisis could push half a billion people back into poverty • SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth: the International Labour Organization reports that more than onein-six young people have lost their jobs, and, according
to Stats NZ, the New Zealand unemployment rate is at 5.3 per cent • SDG 4 – Quality Education: the pandemic re-emphasised the ‘digital divide’ and the right to internet access, and, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, about 1.25 billion students have been affected by lockdowns • SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions: due to various national referendums being postponed, there’s an increasing risk of unrest and an increasing need for governments to deliver digital services and social protection. These are just a few examples, but the truth is every SDG has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sustainability is the strategy for the ‘new normal’ With alert levels and traffic light changes, there’s a growing desire for familiarity and ‘getting back to normal’ but ‘normal’ got us here in the first place. Therefore, getting ‘back to normal’ is simply not feasible nor sustainable. The crisis has also illustrated how deeply
